checkov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the small seaport of Taganrog, Ukraine on January 29th 1860. chekhov enrolled in the Moscow University Medical School, where he would eventually become a doctor. Chekhov's works were published in various St. Petersburg papers, including Peterburskaia gazeta from 1885, and Novoe vremia from 1886. Chekhov also published 2 full-length novels during this time, one of which, "The Shooting Party," was translated into English in 1926. These where  some of his most memorable stories including 'Neighbors' (1892), 'Ward Number Six' (1892), 'The Black Monk' (1894), 'The Murder' (1895), and 'Ariadne' (1895). Chekhov enrolled on the father figure after his Fther fled to Moscow after going bankrupt.

One of Chekhov's techniques is called The Creative Individuality which is a completely imaginative approach to experiencing the truth of the moment. According to Chekhov the work of the actor is to create an inner event which is an actual experience occurring in real time within the actor. This inner event as it is being experienced by the actor is witnessed by the audience as an outward expression related to the contextual moment of the play. 

stimulus

poison for devised work

Signs1	Symptoms1
Altered mental status (eg, confusion, disorientation)	Confusion
Seizures or coma	Chest tightness
Mydriasis	Headache
Tachypnea/Hyperpnea (early)	Dyspnea
Bradypnea/Apnea (late)	Nausea
Hypertension (early)/Hypotension (late)
Cardiovascular collapse
Vomiting
Plasma lactate concentration Cyanide poisoning occurs when a living organism is exposed to a compound that produces cyanide ions (CN−) when dissolved in water. Common poisonous cyanide compounds include hydrogen cyanide gas and the crystalline solids potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide. The cyanide ion halts cellular respiration by inhibiting an enzyme in the mitochondria called cytochrome c oxidase.

story

Baby Peter's "horrifying death" was down to the incompetence of almost every member of staff who came into contact with him, official reports say.

Peter Connelly died in August 2007 at home in Haringey, north London, after months of abuse.

Details of his case, just published, reveal the incompetence of social workers, doctors, lawyers and police.

His mother, her boyfriend and a lodger were jailed last year for causing or allowing Peter's death.

The 17-month-old boy had suffered more than 50 injuries, and had been visited 60 times by the authorities in the eight months before his death.

Rehearsal techniques

• (Spartan delegate and Athenian delegate meet) Inner Thoughts: I would ask my actors to rehearse, although at any given point I would call, “Inner thought?” and they must respond, spontaneously revealing their characters’ inner thoughts. 
• (Entrance of the Magistrate) Hotseat: I would do a hot-seating exercise with my actor. The actor must remain in character whilst being asked a series of questions which elaborate on life experiences. This will help create more realistic characters. 
• (Lysistrata’s Wool Metaphor) Temporal Divisions: I would ask my actor to identify the emotions and objectives within this “unit”, breaking it down into “bits”, in the way of Stanislavski. I would then ask them to focus on those emotions. This will help to create an emotive performance for both the actor and audience.
• (Lysistrata explains the cause to the Magistrate) Super-Objectives: I would ask my actors to consider their objectives within this “unit” – which is their motivation behind these actions/words - and then ask them to consider their super-objective, which relates to their role in the play. This is in the way of Stanislavski. This would help her to portray clearly the content and events of the play, and to remain as a “detached” character. 
• (Cinesias and Myrrhine) Bigger and Bigger: I would ask my actor to identify the beats and units, as would Stanislavski. Then I would ask them to play the character with huge emotions. I would command, “bigger” and each time, the actor must respond by exaggerating. This will help create comedy.
• (Entrance of the women) Flashback: I would ask my actors to think of where there character was a few moments ago, a day ago and perhaps a week ago. In turn, I would ask them to move in slow-motion to create a tableau which represents this. This will help deepen characterization for the actor, and help hone their physicality.
• (End of the play) Flash-forward: I would ask my actors to think of where there character will be in a few moments time, in a day’s time and perhaps in a year’s time. In turn, I would ask them to move in slow-motion to create a tableau which represents this. This will help the actor’s consider what message they want to leave the audience with. 
• (Lysistrata’s end speeches) Watch Real Life Speeches: I would ask my actress playing Lysistrata to watch videos of inspirational or powerful leaders giving speeches. I would ask that she study the way in which they use their hands and their eyebrows in particular. I would then ask her to replicate these when performing her lines. As most of the applicable speeches will be delivered by men, this will give Lysistrata a masculine quality to her. 
• (The women hesitate to agree to Lysistrata’s oath): LeCoq’s “Off-Balance Exercise” Toppling: I would ask the actress playing Myrrhine to stand in front of two other actors and to topple backwards and thus go “off-balance”, a term used by LeCoq. The other two must catch her. I would ask her to familiarize herself with this feeling, as she must play a character who at this point as inner conflicts: to accept Lysistrata’s oath or not. I would then rotate the roles within the group, and repeat the exercise. This will help each actress to understand the conflict.
• For any character playing another gender, for example The Magistrate being played by a woman: LeCoq’s Enjoying Off-Balance: Repeat the above exercise, but exhale as you topple backwards. This will help remove tension when encountering the unknown and remove the actor’s fears. They will reach a state of neutrality. They can repeat this exercise ‘falling’ in different directions. This will help them enjoy the unknown. 
• Myrrhine and Cinesias: Lysistrata and the Magistrate: LeCoq’s “Emotional Movement with a Stick”: I would ask the pair to hold either end of a metre-stick and to push and pull each other through the space with it, varying with dynamism and melodrama. I would ask my actors to familiarize themselves with the emotions and mood of the different movements and paces. I would then ask them to repeat the exercise, this time removing the stick and adding in their lines, trying to replicate the atmosphere, particularly of conflict. This would show the audience the tension of the characters through Proxemics, and help the actors to make full use of the space.
• Chorus swap insults: LeCoq’s Melodrama: I would ask the actors to consider the strongest emotion of the character in the scene and then to mime this scene with exaggerated movement for the chosen emotion. I would then identify the most melodramatic aspects of this mime such as large arm gesture or vivid facial expressions and ask my actors to retain these when adding their lines back in. This will help to create dramatic tension physically between the characters. It will also help unblock self-conscious movements.
• Any Chorus work: LeCoq’s “Choral Line”: I would ask two people to stand in a line. The person at the back must whisper their lines, line by line, and it is echoed by the person in front. The line gradually gets longer, with an actor joining at the back each time and those in front repeating his line together. This will help establish the character of the Chorus Leader and help the Chorus work as an ensemble.
• Any Chorus work: Tempo/Volume Line: I would ask my actors playing the Chorus to arrange themselves in a line, where one end represented a very slow tempo and the other represented a very fast tempo. I would ask them to chant a line in unison, and then I would move along the line and stop at a certain point. They must decide together, yet without speaking, on the appropriate tempo with which to now chant the line. I would repeat the exercise for volume. This will greatly improve the cohesion of the Chorus, and open up new approaches for the choral lines. 
• Any Chorus work: Rehearsing to Music: I would play a variety of music when rehearsing this extract, asking my actors to focus upon it, and to try and adapt their lines to it. I would especially play a steady drum beat/an African tribal song/a piece of classical music (especially as Meyerhold used Beethoven/Bach to influence his actors). This will help the actors bring life to the long choral speeches through the medium of music, which will become more interesting for an audience. 
• Any Chorus work: Unified Walking Pace: I would ask the actors to walk around the room and stop without saying anything or any command. This will improve focus and establish a relationship with other members of the group.
• Any Chorus work: Keeping Time by Counting to 60: I would ask my actors to stand in a circle and close their eyes. Each one must count to one minute in their head. At one minute, they must step forward. I would be keeping track of the order in which they step. Once everyone has stepped forward, I would be able to identify who has the slowest track of time, the fastest and those who are just on. I would then repeat by asking them to say an extract in their head, with those aware of who needs to slow down and speed up. This will help eliminate problems of trying to speak in unison. 
• Any Chorus work: Counting to Ten Co-Operatively: I would ask my actors to sit in a circle and attempt to count to ten. Only one person must say one number at a time. If two people overlap, the counter is reset to “one”. This will help create unity within the group. • Brook: Non-Verbal Language: I would ask my actors to think of an idea that they want to communicate to each other in this extract (give an example). Then I would ask them to communicate this idea without any words at all, though they may use any sound (e.g. whistling) or any gestures (e.g. pointing a finger). This will help the two actors to focus upon how they could use a wordless, universal language when in role.
• LeCoq’s “Rehearse in a Different Setting”: I would take my actors to a different setting, for example, a bedroom for the Myrrhine and Cinesias scene or a busy political place in London for the Magistrate and Lysistrata scene. I would then ask them to rehearse there and monitor the effects on the movement, as LeCoq believed the environment affected the way in which we move. I would ask my actors to memorize the effects and try to replicate them in the rehearsal space, as would Stanislavski in his emotional memory ideas.
• Create Tableaux and Movements: I would ask my actors to summarise the speech into five tableaux. The meaning must be clear. I would then ask them to use extra movements to morph their tableaux so it becomes a flow of movements.
• Play Around with Vocal Exercises: I would ask my actors to rehearse their lines with no movements whatsoever, so that they may concentrate solely on the voice. I would first ask them to say the line as neutrally as possible and then ask them to experiment with tone in which they say it. I would then ask them to repeat the exercise, but varying their tempo, speed, rhythm and then volume to create different expressions.
• Explore Ways to Touch: I would ask my actors to find a way to touch the other person that was appropriate to the line. I would ask them to rely on instinct and not to think it through too much. This will create something visually interesting and perhaps unusual for the audience, perhaps bring out elements of comedy, and draw out the actor’s “physical language”, which has been inspired by Peter Brook. 
• Ladders Exercise: I would position two ladders side-by-side and ask each actor to step onto their ladder: one must be at the top and the other at the bottom. As they recite their lines they must decided whether to move up or down on the ladders so that by the close of the scene, they are on an equal position on their ladders.
• Steps: As each line is said, the actors must experiment with their Proxemics: either moving closer or nearer to the other speaker, depending on their relationship.
• LeCoq’s Masks and Neutrality: I would ask my actor’s to focus on their physicéality. The actors should wear a mask and then act the scene. The loss of facial expressions will drive them to communicate meaning through their physical movements. 
• LeCoq’s “Valley of the Giants” – I would ask the actor to pretend he is a giant. He must interact with the other actors and props as if they were much smaller. He will take heavy steps, push and pull with his body and enjoy playing at being big, which was vital to be an actor under LeCoq. This will give an elevated status to this character.
• LeCoq’s “Imprisoned in a Tiny Space” – I would ask my actor to imagine he/she has been imprisoned in a tiny cell and has found a way to escape, but must move quickly. This will show how space can affect your performance and how your body needs to push/pull.
• Lysistrata as Athena: LeCoq’s “Daily Walk”: I would ask my actors to walk around the rehearsal space, attempting to reproduce their everyday walk. I would observe them and note if any walkers push the space as they walk, if they move with their upper bodies, if any images are being created, if any emotional states are being created. This will provide the actors with a sense of their own style of movement and an awareness of what a movement can convey. For Lysistrata, I would ask her to observe as well, and practice until creating a completely neutral walk to mimic Athena.
• Brook: Performing for Deaf Children: I would ask my actors to perform in front of an audience of deaf children. This would help actors consider their physical and non-verbal aspects of performance and tap into new creative impulses. 
• Brook: “One Handed Conversation”: I would ask my actors to hold a conversation each using only the actions of one hand and thus limiting communication ability. It forces the actors to become expressive with their hands and face, to communicate in ways other than words and to draw upon their own physical impulses.
• Brook: “Pictures”: I would ask my cast to recreate in detail the postures of people seen in pictures from the time. They could improvise the moments before the photograph. This would allow them to access the internal feelings of those in the photograph.
• Brook: “Hospital”: I would ask my actors to observe prisoners, those in care homes or activists, especially in Occupy London. I would ask them to imitate the external forms of the internal states of these people. This will help my actors to physically show what is happening on the inside. Derived from Brook making his actors watch hospital patients.
• Brook: Masks: I would create a mask of this character and ask my actor to wear the mask and then match their face to that of the mask’s. When wearing it, it will help the actor to develop impulses from within.
• Copeau: Neutral Walk: I would ask my actors to practice standing, sitting and walking and picking up an object with a mask one. I would watch them perform these actions and look out for characteristics such as a swing of the arms which shows it is not neutral. I would ask questions, “why pick up this object so quickly?” I would correct each mistake and it would leave the actor in a neutral role.
• Boal’s “Drawing a cross and a circle” I would ask my actors to draw a circle in the air using their right hands, then draw a cross using their left and then try to do both simultaneously. This would help my actors in dexterity and in sharpening their expressivity of their body.
• Boal’s “Physicality and music” I would arrange my Chorus into group(s) of three and then into a line. I would then play lively music/read the monologue to a tune and ask one member of the group to create a physical response to the music which the other two must follow. This will help my actors understand the group rhythm needed in a Chorus, reveal physically the message behind the monologue for the audience and create a physical theatre approach.

woman in black

WOMAN IN BLACK

The stage of the performance 'woman in black' was very basic has it only had minimal props such has a basket and two chairs which was used for more than one thing e.g. at one point in the play the basket is used has a horse and carriage. This Forces the audience to use the imagination which is very Brecht. Also the use of minimal props forces us has an audience to imagine the set ourselves which also prevents us from getting emotionally attached to the characters.

Later on you find that there is also a backstage with a few more props which helps show the location they are in. (which in this case an old house). This was very effective staging has it helped the illusion of thinking they was actually in the house. The layout of the set allowed the play to flow at different paces which raised the tension to make the jump scares even bigger, e.g. when the Actor playing has Arthur Kipps hears a noise which leads to a door with nothing but the spot light focused on it the slow pace of it sets the tension high and then in a quick turn of pace (everything happening in a flash) a loud scream and the door flying open makes everyone jump.

The Fact that there is only three characters (The Actor, Arthur Kipps and The Woman In Black) makes this performance very Breachtian has this called for multi-role-play by Arthur kipps who changed roles throughout the performances Which alienated the audience and didn't allow us the audience get attached to a character and made us aware that we was watching a play.  To alienate the Audience even more an make them aware they was watching a play in a play they did everything on the stage e.g. getting changed and setting up the stage, But kept it at a level where we was still aware of the main storyline. The effect of the characters going in and out of the story constantly reminds us that we are watching a play and made us believe that the woman in black is not real. This also gives the audience a false sense of security has we don't know whether to believe that the woman in black is real or not. This also made the woman in black unpredictable has no one known in the audience when she would show up this also helped build up the tension.

The audience are once again forced to use their imagination when spider the dog is introduced as there is not a real dog on stage. Another effective technique used in this play is when Arthur kipps describe the scene as the actor performed this. This technique can also relate to the scene when Spider is introduced because without the description none of the audience would have a clue what’s going on and they wouldn't be able to imagine what’s going on and the illusion will be spoiled.

Throughout the play the lighting was dark and scary this was used to effectively make the audience jump on the edge of their seats and build the tension. Their wasn't many points within the play where it looked light, nice and calm. This added effects such has background noise was there to set the scene and give the audience an idea of what was going on. A good example of this is when the carriage is going down the road and  you can ear the noise of the horse trotting along the rode than you hear things breaking and a woman screaming. So just through noise the audience new what was happening It made the audience imagine a horror scene which it was trying to get across, and this left the audience knowing how dark this play is.

Personally i thought the actors was great and they told the story of the "woman in black" in a dark evil way and it was effective has most of the left shaking in their boots. Arthur Kipps was great in the way he made me believe he was all these different characters and not just this one character trying to be lots of different character. Both actors showed the emotion in a effective way the audience could see how they was feeling by the way they handled certain situations. e.g. when The actor (playing has Kipps) was spending the night in the old house  he showed how scared he was by the way he paced around the house.

 Overall I think the performance was great  the change in the pace and the tension throughout left me on the edge of my seat. and I found it really effective by the way they did a play in a play. But I believe that the woman in black could of done more with the audience e.g. walked around the seats while she had no part in the scene this would of raised the tension  and maid it ten times more scary.

The techniques used throughout was very Brecht which alienated the audience and left them thinking what they have just watched. This also helped raise the tension  and make the atmosphere more tense.



Word Count: 865

  

    

essay

OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD

For this essay i will be talking about the themes e.g. language, characterisation etc. in the play our country's good by Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Language: 

In one of our workshops we had to try and understand how the language is used within the scene and how we could use the language to interpreted the relationship between John Wisehammer and Mary.

The challenges of staging this scene in relation to language was trying to show how the relationship developed throughout the scene e.g. it starts with Wisehammer basically talking to him and in the Mary acknowledges him and they form a relationship.  

Wisehammer is trying to signify to Mary that he likes her but Mary doesn't acknowledge this e.g  "Wisehammer: Friend  That's a good word. short, but full of promise." But Mary Just ignores this and carrys on reading her script. It also seems that Wisehammer is a bit desperate has he trying so many ways to get Mary's attention.

Wisehammer also seems to talk about words that relate to the convicts which is ironic has the play is about convicts e.g. guilty and innocent which signify's that Wisehammer and Mary believe that some of the convicts are wrongly accused or that some of them deserve to be their for the crimes they have committed. aslo Wisehammer could be using words such as injustice as a way to make Mary and the audience believe he is innocent but Mary is challenging this by saying such things as guilty.

With the language used throughout the play their is signs of Breacht and Stanislavski. For example in scene 11 Side way states  that you shouldn't be natural on a stage "Natural! On stage! But Mr Clark!" this is Brecht.

Non Verbal Communication :
In Act 2 Scene 6 their is a strong part  of the play where friendship, status and pride take part at once. These are the main themes of the play  and they are shown with next to no verbal communication. I personally think this is the strongest part of the play because Liz has her reputation and pride to keep, Which she doesn't show with verbal communication but body language and facial expressions instead. Through out the play Liz looks down on Ketch and sees him has a bad person because of his job within the camp. But in this scene with a small gesture a bit of friendship i shown between  her and Ketch. In our workshop we had to show how we interpreted Liz and how she would keep her pride. we thought  that the most important bit  which we showed  was at the end of the scene when she was willing to give up her pride and status so she could be part of the play.

Vocal awareness :

   

  when i performed this in one of my workshops i tried to use my tone and pace to show how lonely and sexually frustrated Ralph his. I also use a pause so it allowed the audience to soak in all the feelings Ralph is going through.

. Throughout the scene Ralph is going through lots of different emotions  and he shows this by is pace ("Ralph's tent. candlelight. Ralph paces") also one thing i pick  from this part of the play is that he only mentions is son in one line "I hope to god that their is nothing the matter with you my tender Alicia or that of our boy" this makes it look like he he doesn't care about his son.

Characterisation:
   Their is a lot of mixed personality going on in the play 'Our Countrys Good' At the start of the play the officers argue about how the convicts should be punished/treated, but at the same time they are shooting birds which is very ironic because they are talking about being humane. E.g Captain Arthur Phillip believes the convicts should be educated by theatre. But the other officers disagree e.g. Collins believed that hanging was the best option. The characterisation on the convicts side is shown in a similar way they all disagree with each other and none of them like each other. This is in the beginning  but throughout the play you see relationships form which you wouldn't expect.  For example Ketch is disliked by all the convicts because of the job he has been given which he personally hates and all the convicts look down on him,But later on in the play  you find out that the convicts start to like him.

In one of our workshops we worked on the opening scene and we showed by levels and movement who had the higher authority this changed throughout the scene and this helped us understand what these characters was.

Social,Historical,Cultural context 
Crime and punishment has changed a lot since 1450. In the 15th and 17th century  whipping was still used a lot to set a public example to warn of other people from committing crimes.Their was also punishments  called public showing  which got the public involved  e.g. a criminal would be locked in a a wooden plank with legs and the public would throw things like rocks and fruit at them this is also known as a public humiliation. Members of the public would see this as a form of entertainment. Towards the beginning of the 1900s the shaming punishment was out of use so was whipping. Transportation to Australia was a lot more common than what it use to be.

This Historical background relates to the play because the convicts in the  play are transported to Australia  and also their  are some stupid punishments given to people e.g. "Their is also Dorothy,82, who stole a biscuit" this woman was put up for hanging. their is also the sign of the public entertainment shown in the play "the sooner the better i believe their is much excitement  in the colony"

In my workshop we did a group debate about how crimes and punishment have change through the years and if we agreed with the punishments that was given personally i had mixed opinions. than we formed a split stage of a modern day court and a 19th century court and we showed what we thought had changed. Doing this activity helped me understand how much crimes and punishment have changed.(1185)

The Visual,Aural and spatial elements:

My set is their to show how the living standards and the environment was. Also added features such as rope to show that they are basically castaways and theirs no way back. The bars are their to remind them and the audience they are convicts. its also their to make the officers they are basally convicts with power.

Interpretation:
 we had to perform harry speech in the way that we interpreted it. I saw it as a desperate unstable man I tried to show this in my speech and my movements e.g. when he started hearing voices I would drop to the floor and curl into a ball and show that stereo typical crazy person. I also see that Duckling is his only comfort so when he speaks of her it is ant in a nasty way but a desperate way. also at times  he would go on a aggressive rant.  


The Response To A Practitioner:
Their is signs of both work of practitioners within the play of our country's good. the fact that its a play in a play makes it very Stanislavski as it is natural because you see a play forming. the staging is very Brecht as you can see them move the staging and that is unnatural. personally i believe Stanislavski  
approach would be better for this play because it can relate to real life events and i personalty believe that a Brecht approach wouldn't work.




Word Count: 1361